Vikings host Tarboro in EP2A semis

Published: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 10:44 PM.

It’s been quite a run for Kinston’s girls basketball team over the past few seasons.

The Vikings don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.

Kinston, which won its second straight outright Eastern Plains 2A Conference regular season title and shared the title with Wilson Beddingfield two seasons ago, will host fifth-seeded Tarboro at 6 p.m. today in a semifinal game of the conference tournament.

Not only have the Vikings (19-4) been a part of three straight regular season championships, they are also gunning for their third straight tournament title as well.

For senior Monique Lofton, the run has been quite enjoyable.

“Winning is fun,” she said. “We just go out there and do what we’re supposed to do.”

It’s been quite a run for Kinston’s girls basketball team over the past few seasons.

The Vikings don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.

Kinston, which won its second straight outright Eastern Plains 2A Conference regular season title and shared the title with Wilson Beddingfield two seasons ago, will host fifth-seeded Tarboro at 6 p.m. today in a semifinal game of the conference tournament.

Not only have the Vikings (19-4) been a part of three straight regular season championships, they are also gunning for their third straight tournament title as well.

For senior Monique Lofton, the run has been quite enjoyable.

“Winning is fun,” she said. “We just go out there and do what we’re supposed to do.”

What Kinston has done since Lofton stepped onto the floor at Viking Gym as a freshman is win.

In four seasons in the current EP2A, the Vikings are a remarkable 43-5 in regular season conference play, and, including conference tournament games, seek their 40th straight victory against a league opponent tonight when Tarboro comes to town.

The last time Kinston lost to a conference opponent was a 49-46 defeat at Wilson Beddingfield on Dec. 14, 2010.

To coach Hubert Quinerly, who’s in his second year as the team’s head coach, it has all started with a word professional athletes loathe.

Practice.

“I honestly can go home every night after practice and know that it went well,” he said. “They work hard, they compete, they get after each other, and there’s a good little bond between them. So it makes the play on the court so much better.”

When Lofton was a freshman the Vikings went 14-11 overall and were 8-4 in league play. But after that season Quinerly, who was an assistant to former head coach Ira Jones at the time, knew Kinston had some quality talent returning and coming in.

Three seasons later it’s Kinston that everyone is gunning for.

“We love that bull’s eye on our chests. When Mo’ was a freshman we didn’t have that. We were just trying to find our way in this conference,” Quinerly said.

Even though the Vikings have defeated Tarboro twice by a combined 54 points already this season, they’re still not taking it lightly.

That’s because they know they’re going to get Tarboro’s best shot because they have become the best themselves.

“We were trying to hit that mark. Now, we’re trying to stop people from getting it,” Quinerly said. “It’s not easy every night. Every night somebody is going to give you their best shot and if they beat you then that’s their state championship.

“The girls get that. We all get that. And that’s why we come to practice every day.”

Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.